elit Vodka Global Campaign 2019 "Fire Starts at -18"
Created with the fantastic team at Fred & Farid LA and famed director Tony Kaye, we brought to life the world's best tasting vodka, that nobody knew about. Rooted in the product truth wherein the vodka is frozen at -18°C before being put through the filtration process, the execution became the creative idea itself - producing hundreds of brand assets and performances shot at -18°C.
It is not news that for the past decade, global vodka sales have been steadily declining. This is largely due to an older generation of vodka drinkers being replaced by a younger, more selective generation of experience seekers who prefer a repertoire in any given occasion, who drink less but better and who generally care what goes into their bodies. It was to answer the call of these changing desires that Stolichnaya vodka introduced a super-premium offering in 2003, naming it elit™ vodka stamped with a symbolic flame encapsulated in a shard of ice.
In the spring of 2018, we embarked on a mission to target today’s luxury consumers - themselves, passionate purveyors of knowledge and experience. Giving ourselves the challenge of creating a global brand platform that not only signals the product truth at its core but also summons the imagination of our audiences, thus “Fire at -18°C” (FSAM18) was borne.
The brand campaign strategy was “art based on a product truth". We took a carte-blanche approach - exploring the bold territory of extreme cold to create a visually impactful and artistic performance platform. All we needed was the right director, -18°C and serendipity.
Capturing 300 assets using a mixture of cameras (from a Red One to the hand-held Super 8 Film) in sub-zero temperatures was a challenge not only to the human body but also the artist’s performance – there was an ephemeral quality and also improvisation that permeated the set. We mixed in macro beauty shots of ice shot in Siberia to convey the various stages of beauty within the formation of ice structures in nature.
Launched in selected markets in June 2019, the content was reassuringly on brand and abundant enough to give our markets the flexibility to pick and choose assets they found relevant to be used across specific experience points while still maintaining the integrity of the brand message.